Vietnam, Indonesia to lift ties to strategic partnership

Vietnamese and Indonesian leaders are due to lift bilateral relations to
a strategic partnership level during President Truong Tan Sang’s visit
to Indonesia from June 27-28, ushering in new cooperation
opportunities for the development and prosperity of each nation.

The two countries established their relationship at a consul-general
level in December 1955, which was upgraded to an ambassadorial level on
August 15, 1964. Over the past years, the traditional friendship and
comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia have continued
to grow.

They regularly exchange all-level delegations, which
include Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s official visit to Indonesia
in September 2011, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s
state-level visit to Vietnam in October 2010.

The two
countries have signed an action plan for the 2012-2015 period and more
than 30 agreements to lay a solid legal foundation for bilateral
cooperation in various realms.

Vietnam is one of Indonesia’s 14 “comprehensive” and “strategic” partners that the country
prioritises developing ties with. Numerous localities from the two
nations have established links, notably those between Kien Giang and
West Kalimantan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Padang, and Da Nang and
Semarang.

Bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation
has seen stable development. Two-way trade has grown steadily from 3.3
billion USD in 2010 to over 4.6 billion USD last year. The figure is
expected to exceed five billion USD before 2015. Vietnam primarily
exports rice, crude oil and farm produce to Indonesia and imports
fertiliser, oil and gas, packaging, machinery, fabric, paper and
confectionery.

As of this April, Indonesia ranked 27 th out of
101 countries and territories worldwide investing in Vietnam, with 35
projects worth over 282 million USD focusing on oil and gas surveying
and exploitation, coal mining, banking, tourism, wood processing and
export, fibre production and garment manufacturing.

Over the
past years, national defence and security have upheld the tradition of
fine cooperation. The two sides inked a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) on defence cooperation and are working to sign other deals in this
field.

Other links in education and training, agriculture,
forestry, energy, culture and tourism have been promoted. Indonesia
offers hundreds of language, arts and information technology
scholarships to Vietnamese students.

President Sang’s visit aims
to affirm Vietnam ’s consistent policy of fortifying friendship and
comprehensive cooperation with Indonesia – a traditional and
important partner of Vietnam in ASEAN and the region.
It
also looks to boost economic, trade, investment, national defence and
security cooperation opportunities, and exchange views on regional and
international issues of mutual interest, including the East Sea issue
and ASEAN cooperation.